Letter: Let Chico residents decide how to use parking lot

The Chico farmers market has been an anchor to the community for many years. For many families, the Saturday morning market is a ritual. They go to the market, and then go have breakfast or lunch at a neighboring restaurant, or do a little retail shopping. The relaxed shopping and social atmosphere is part of the Chico lifestyle. People can buy healthy food from local vendors. Sounds like a win-win.

I understand that options to the current location have been offered, but the farmers prefer the convenience of the current location. The details of such a move have been very vague. Where would the city vehicles go? Moving them to the street sounds counter-productive when we are trying to relieve pressure on the parking downtown. And if it is to just move the farmers market a couple of blocks to the city lot, how does that alleviate the concerns of the retail businesses?

The Saturday market adds to the quality of life of Chico. Let the people of Chico decide in November if they want the market to continue in its current location, or if a new parking structure and retail shops are more important. The parking lot, which is owned by the city, belongs to all of us. We should be able to decide its use.